John henry munderloh



(N Model.) l l J. MUNDBRL'OH.

SLIDING` DOOR.

No. 575,162I Patented Jan.12,v1397.

W itn'esses Inventor.

M/Mrf vnr. Nonms-Pi'rnns co. Pnufou'mo., wAsxmcToN. u. c.

NTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN HENRY MUNDERLOII, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO LOUIS VEBER, OF SAME PLACE.

SLIDING DOOFt SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 575,162, dated January 1.2, 1897'.

Application lecl March 8, 1894. Serial No. 502,831. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that l, JOHN HENRY MUNDER- LOH, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Philadelphia, State of Pennsyl- Vania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sliding Doors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming a part of this speciio ication.

My invention relates to sliding doors, and has for its object to provide a pair of doors and actuating and guiding devices therefor so operating that by grasping the handle of either door they will both be slid at the same time laterally to or from each other.

lVith this object in view the invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts, all as hereinafter described, and

zo pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is afront elevation of adoor-frame, a pair of sliding doors, and actuating and guiding devices, the drawing showing the 2 5 doors closed. Fig. 2 is a like view of the same parts, showing the doors open.

My improvements are applicable to all slid ing doors, but more particularly to street-car doors. The drawings show the door-frame of 3o acar, (marked A.) A pair of parallel guidebars of unequal length (marked ct d4) are provided, secured to the frame of the door at d' d, and have downwardly-projecting ends CL2, secured to the door-frame at a3, which serve 3 5 as stops to limit the lateral movement of the doors, although one only of said stops is essential for that purpose. The lower of these two guide-bars (marked CL4) extends inwardly only as far as the pinion hereinafter described.

Said lower bar a4 serves as a guide to 011e door B and its rack-bar b, while the opposite guidebar a serves as a guide to the opposite door (marked B') and its rack-bar b. A pinionwheel C is iixedly secured to the frame at or about a point above the junction of the inner vertical edges of the two doors, which is also at or about the end of the toothed portion of the two rack bars, and this pinion wheel meshes with both rack-bars, and the three 5o may be more securely held in proper relative position by an overlapping plate c, if desired.

A projection b3 may be added to the rack-bar b' the width of the dist-ance between said bar and the guide d4 to steady lthe reeiprocatory movement of the said bar. Other overlapping brackets d5 may be provided, but are not essential, to prevent any possible lateral or outward movement of the rack-bars relatively to the pinion-wheel- The doors may each be provided with han- 6o dles b3 b3 or other appropriate means whereby to grasp them by the hand of the operator. Preferably a guide-slot D is provided in the base of the frame to steady the lateral movement of the doors.

The principle of construction of the inven tion is in providing two parallel rack-bars, arranged one above the other, carried by a pair of doors, said barsv extending inwardly in opposite directions to each other beyond the 7o inner vertical edge of the doors, and an independently-iixed pinion-wheel arranged centrally between the said parallel rack-bars, with means to guide and maintain the same in mesh therewith. I do not, however, claim broadly such means for operating a pair of doors, as similar devices have heretofore been patented. The particular arrangement, however, of the rack-bar and guides as herein specified and as shown, whereby the doors in 8o operation are made to move in true horizontal lines and are held from vertical vibration, I believe to be new.

The operation of the device is as follows: When the door B', for illustration, is grasped 85 by its handle b3 and moved laterally away from its contiguous door D, its rack-bar b will rotate the pinion-wheel O, and th us actuating the opposite rack-bar Z) cause it to reciprocate the door D in the opposite direction to that 9o in which the door B is, by this movement of the parts, simultaneously moving. During this operation the rack-bar b moves on the guide-bar d4 and the rack-bar Z2 and its projection h3 move in contact with the guide-bar 95 a, whereby the doors are compelled to move in truehorizontal lines, as above specied.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination with a pair of slidingdoors, and a fra-me upon and against which the same IOO are mounted, of a pair of guide-bars a a#t secured to saidy frame above the door, one above the other, one of said guide-bars extending above and beyond both doors, and the other extending above and beyond one only of said doors, a rack-bar b secured to the upper edge of one of said doors below and in Contact with the guide-bar 0,4 and extending over the other door, a rack-bar b secured to said other door and extending beyond its inner edge above the irst rack-bar, in Contact With the guidebar a', and having also a guide projection in Contact with the bar CL4, a pinion-Wheel fixedly secured to the frame centrally between the tWo raek-bars, means'for maintaining said rack-bars in proper register with said pinion, and a stop or stops carried by the guide-bars for limiting the movement of said doors, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto afzo 

